🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <3277CA41.3E74@agcs.com>, ottesona@agcs.com says...

>The office of President of the United States should be held in high
>regard.  If a morally and ethically bankrupt person such as Bill
>Clinton can be elected President it speaks more for the character
>of the voters rather than Bill Clinton himself.

This would be correct except for one thing.  (Except for write ins)
the people don't get to vote for anyone they want for President or any
other office.  They get to vote for one of s very short list of names
that happened to make it onto their ballot.  In order to get one's
name onto a ballot, he must either already be compromised to the
people who run the major parties or run under a "third party" banner.

The brave folks who pick the third party route are to be commended and
occasionally stage an upset over a major.  That any small party can
even make onto a ballot speaks volumes about the determination their
supporters show since it takes about 200,000 petition signatures 
nationwide to make it onto all the state ballots.  That hurdle itself
is enough to take out all casual challenges to the majors who have rigged
the game beyond the understanding of most people.  

Of course, combining the ballot hurdle with the advantages the majors 
give each other with money from the gov't coffers and the bully pulpit
the media give the majors yields a huge head start for powers that be.

Now let's add the constant drumbeat of one of the great lies of all 
time, that of "voting for a minor is throwing away your vote" and the
growth of small parties in recent years is nothing short of phenomenal.

So summing it all up, that people vote for scum like Clinton and Dole
is a product of the misinformation that they get tossed onto their
doorstep every day in the paper and the droning of the talking heads
on the idiot box.  Whose "fault" is it?  There's no shortage of fault
to pass around.  What to do about it?  Become educated on the electoral
process and work to recognize propoganda when you hear it.  Recognize
that we have more choices then Clinton and Dole despite what they will
tell you.  Vote for the candidate who best represents your views.  Your
individual vote will never swing an election.  It will be part of a "poll"
that the extablished folks WILL notice.  

In Liberty,

Rich
			Guns save lives
-- 
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Rich Loether             Snail Mail: University of Pittsburgh
EMail: rjl+@pitt.edu                 Computing & Info Services
Voice: (412) 624-6429                600 Epsilon Drive
FAX:   (412) 624-6436                Pittsburgh, PA 15238
Without Prejudice, UCC 1-207
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